Beauty queen told to 'get off the tacos'

A teen beauty queen who claims she was fired by pageant organisers for gaining too much weight is in court fighting to regain her crown.

Domonique Ramirez, 17, is suing in the hope she will be reinstated as Miss San Antonio and be allowed to compete in the Miss Texas contest.

Ramirez, who is 172cm tall and weighs 59kg, was allegedly told she was too fat to have her bikini photos airbrushed and was unfairly harassed about gaining weight — with one pageant director telling her to "get off the tacos".

President of the Miss San Antonio pageant, Linda Woods, testified that publicity photos of Ramirez in a bikini were "unusuable" because she had gained weight in the months after the pageant.

Ms Woods said it was Ramirez's performance in the bikini competition that propelled her to win Miss San Antonio in the first place.

But pageant organisers say Ramirez's weight gain was just one of many reasons she was fired.

They claim she refused help from vocal coaches, was late to events or did not show up, and did not write thank you notes.

She also modelled a wedding gown at a bridal show instead of her crown and sash — which organisers said sent a potentially inappropriate message given her young age.

Ramirez's crown was revoked in January after an email was sent by pageant executive director Caroline Flores to Dominique's mother to say her reign as Miss San Antonio was being revoked.

Ramirez hopes to show in her lawsuit that each allegation made by the pageant organisers is "untrue, exaggerated or embellished.

But the Miss Bexar County group has a counter-suit that lists contract violations including a clause that a "baseline for [Ramirez's] weight and measurements will be established".